TV or no TV

[gofish]

I'm thinking about getting rid of our TV.

 

I'm do not like the shows my kids are watching. This has been bugging me more and more.

 

Did you get rid of your TV and how did it turn out for you?

 

Have you thought about giving up the TV?

[Homesteader]

While we were building our house, we put the TV in the closet. We lived with a generator for two years and didn't reintroduce the TV back into the family when power poles came down the road.

 

You will have to find other things for the kids to do. If you replace the TV with the Internet, you haven't really changed anything. One is just as bad as the other.

 

After awhile, I forgot about the TV and found many other things to do in the evening. I wonder now how I spent so many hours glued to the boob tube and accomplished very little.

[themartianchick]

We have never lived without tv in our house, but now at the ages of 20 and 21, they still don't watch a lot. We always monitored what they watched and what music they listened to. The tv can bring lots of wonderful programming into your household, just like a book, a cd, a dvd or a video game. They can all bring a host of negative programming, too. It is all a case of garbage in-garbage out. It is the quality of the programming and the length of time spent in front of the tube.

[Daylily]

We never had a tv when our kids were growing up. They watched some at their grandparents and great-grandparents but it was very controlled. Because of not having tv, they all three learned to play piano, guitar, and various other instruments and sing. They all love to read and have many hands-on, doing stuff type hobbies. If kids spend hours watching tv, how do they have time to learn to play music? We have a tv now but rarely watch it. We have satellite tv with christian programming and some foreign news channels. Neither of the kids (now adults) are really interested in entertainment tv now.

[themartianchick]

We never had a tv when our kids were growing up. They watched some at their grandparents and great-grandparents but it was very controlled. Because of not having tv, they all three learned to play piano, guitar, and various other instruments and sing. They all love to read and have many hands-on, doing stuff type hobbies. If kids spend hours watching tv, how do they have time to learn to play music? We have a tv now but rarely watch it. We have satellite tv with christian programming and some foreign news channels. Neither of the kids (now adults) are really interested in entertainment tv now.

 

(PARENTAL BRAG ALERT!) Our kids are music majors in college. The television helped to bring a lot of high quality classical and jazz music programming into their lives. Each daughter plays multiple instruments and while in high school, they were always ranked among the best student players in the state on at least one instrument. They were always disciplined about practicing. At one point, one daughter has a musical committment every day of the week...including Sundays. It was hectic, but it helped her to become a better musician.

 

Since we live in an urban area, our kids had easy access to a symphony orchestra and multiple jazz venues. However,some of the jazz venues serve alcohol so our kids were not old enough to enter them. It really is a shame because (Like their parents) jazz music is their first love. Television has introduced them to some wonderful performances by artists of the past that they would never be able to see because they are now deceased. One daughter is a voice major. She prefers to watch vocal performances by artists like Bobby McFerrin, Al Jarreau, Sarah Vaughn, Mel Torme and Ella Fitzgerald because they allow her to see some of the facial movements they use in order to achieve certain voice effects. This same daughter is quite an accomplished bassoonist and has played with the local symphony orchestra. While watching tv one evening, she discovered a musician named Yusef Lateef who incorporates the bassoon into jazz music. She was amazed to see that she could marry her musical tastes and styles effectively. Our whole family became hooked on his music!

 

Over the years we have really discovered some fabulous performances: Take 6 (gospel a capella), Buena Vista Social Club (octogenarian cuban jazz musicians), Ladysmith Black Mambazo (African a capella singers best known for the Lion King soundtrack), etc... So much of what we now listen to was gleaned from television that I wonder what we'd be listening to if we hadn't discovered such gems!

 

In our household, my husband is the only one who really watches any quantity of tv. He loves the NY Yankees and the Pittsburgh Steelers and will watch them whenever they are on tv. Our kids never were hardcore cartoon watchers or fans of a lot of the mindless sitcoms that were on tv when they were younger. They still aren't into that kind of thing.When we watch movies together, it is usually an old mystery directed by Hitchcock or an old musical like Cabin in the Sky, St. Louis Blues, Paris Blues or Stormy Weather. Those kind of movies are usually short on plot but long on talented musical performers!

 

Like I said before, you really have to choose what you allow children to watch and select programming that aligns with your beliefs. For that reason, we never had a video gaming system in our house until a month ago. Our older daughter bought a Wii System. She used it for about a week and set it aside. It just didn't hold her attention. She is thinking about selling it since hers is the special edition red one. Since she works at a big box retailer, she got it at a good price and won't lose her money.

[Daylily]

I know you're very proud of your kids. I know I am proud of mine I think it's great for people to learn to play some type of musical instrument. It adds so much enjoyment to one's life. And when families can get together and have a "jam session", it brings everybody closer and is just plain fun!

 

We lived and still do in the boonies. I had to drive an hour each way for voice lessons then my teacher moved away. I found another one in the same town and she moved away. That is one drawback to living in the country, at least here.

[Amishway Homesteaders]

No TV here!

Do have 1 (not hooked up ) that we watch DVDs on now and then.

When you first stop watching the TV you will miss it sometimes but the longer you go without it the easier it will be.

When you look at all the time you just sit and watch it when you could be doing other things making the move to no TV will be easier as well.

[Jakk]

TV can only be a detriment if you LET it be one. There are tons of excellent educational programs on tv, not just the mindless blather. As a parent, its my job to monitor what my kids watch, and for how long. If you take away my tv, I would cry lol.. I love to sit down at night after everyone else has gone to bed and watch something on the History Channel or Nat Geo. I also love to catch a good comedy or some other mindless tv show to lighten my mood at times. Like everything else, tv is a tool that when used in moderation can be a very good thing.

 

I still find time to garden, get housework done and homeschool my kids. We do not go to the movies and we spend very little on entertainment so the tv is my luxury entertainment. Having a tv in our house has not be an issue.

[Motherhen]

I agree with the others who have a tv in the home. We have two. One downstairs; one upstairs. I mainly enjoy the news and Dr. Oz--when I watch him which is often while making supper. I learn a lot from him. Sure I can get the news online but its not local news and better to see than hear, for me. There are other programs that I watch as well but we get very few channels--and some are 'fuzzy' depending on the weather.

There is much educational tv out there too...not just bad stuff. Control or self-control is the key words. I would not want to be without a tv, anymore than I would want to be without the internet. Again the internet can bring 'bad' things to you as well, but its what you do with it. The internet is an information highway for me--as well as my choice of communication for my home based business. The tv is just a source of educational info, News and entertainment as well. They both have their place in my home.